Troy earns first win of the year

TROY — Troy got its Bear back, and the offense got its swagger back.

The Trojans, led by quarterback Levi Brown, snapped a three-game losing streak dating back to last season with a 27-14 win over UAB at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium Saturday. Brown threw for 413 yards, second-best in school history, and the Trojans rolled up 551 yards of offense.

The record is 454 yards by Sim Byrd in 1968. Brown is just the second Trojan to throw for more than 400 yards.

“He told me after the game if I had caught the 30-yard ball (a drop at the end of the first half), he would have broke the record,” wide receiver TeBiarus Gill said. “He told me to let it go, but he’ll continue to get on me. I just took my eyes off it, which is something you can’t do.”

Gill was there for Brown and the Troy offense early, catching four passes for 69 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass where he outjumped a UAB defender to put the Trojans up 10-0 in the second quarter.

Troy hadn’t scored a touchdown since the second quarter of the season opener at Bowling Green, getting outscored 24-0 in the second half of that game and losing 56-6 last week at Florida.

“We had a talk about how we don’t go deep enough,” wide receiver Jerrel Jernigan said. “Coach had a plan to go deep and throw the ball down the field to a bunch of different receivers.”

That plan worked. Josh Jarboe caught a 67-yard pass on the second drive, setting up a 23-yard field goal by Sam Glusman. With Troy up 10-3 in the third quarter, Brown hit sophomore Chip Reeves for a 63-yard touchdown pass. It was a career game for Reeves, who led all receivers with five passes for 95 yards.

“We’ve been waiting on Chip to do that all year,” Jernigan said. “I really think he got the spark now to where he could get it in his mind that he could beat anybody he wanted to.”

DuJuan Harris had a 22-yard touchdown run late in the third, putting Troy up 24-6. Glusman added a 22-yard field goal. UAB’s Josh Zahn kicked field goals of 20 and 30 yards, but UAB’s lone touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a 17-yard pass from Joe Webb to Jeffrey Anderson, followed by a 2-point play.

UAB had scored 77 points and had nearly 1,000 yards of total offense through its first two games, but Troy’s unit held the Blazers to 285 yards. Part of that was because Woods, a senior linebacker, came back from a two-game NCAA suspension because Troy couldn’t produce evidence for a medical redshirt in 2006.

Webb, a standout quarterback, threw for just 114 yards and ran for 76.

“The comfort level I give the other guys, you can’t explain it,” Woods said. “Me being out there, it really encourages them. They’ve got a prolific offense. Going into the game, I knew we had to stop Webb, but we came out there and our chemistry was there today and our effort was there.

“You saw them throw a bunch of deep balls, but everyone was back there every time.”

Cornerback Barry Valcin had an interception that set up Troy’s first touchdown. The Trojans had five tackles for loss.

First quarter
7:18 Troy 3, UAB 0: Sam Glusman 22-yard field goal. 5 plays, 65 yards, 1:59. Key play: Levi Brown connected with Josh Jarboe on the first play of the series for a 67-yard completion.

Second quarter
5:58 Troy 10, UAB 0: Levi Brown 20-yard throw to Tebiarus Gill. Glusman PAT. 8 plays, 73 yards, 3:50. Key play: Jerrel Jernigan 26-yard run to the UAB 20.

Third quarter
11:30 Troy 10, UAB 3: Josh Zahn 19-yard field goal. 8 plays, 58 yards, 3:20. Key play: Joe Webb to Frantrell Forrest 30-yard completion.

7:00 Troy 17, UAB 3: Chip Reeves catches 63-yard touchdown pass from Levi Brown. Glusman PAT. 2 plays, 59 yards, 0:44. Key play: The TD play, as Reeves used good speed to get behind the secondary and catch the pass in stride.

1:58 Troy 17, UAB 6: Zahn 30-yard field goal. 11 plays, 63 yards, 5:02. Key play: Webb runs a draw for 11 yards to keep the drive alive on a 3rd-and-8 situation.

:45 Troy 24, UAB 6: DuJuan Harris 22-yard run over the left side. Glusman PAT. 4 plays, 71 yards, 1:13. Key play: Jernigan 32-yard run to the 47 of UAB.

Fourth quarter
13:07 Troy 24, UAB 14: Joe Webb 17-yard pass to Jeffery Anderson. Webb to Zach Lankford for a 2-point conversion. Key play: David Isabelle 22 yard run.

5:32 Troy 27, UAB 14: Glusman 22-yard field goal. 16 play, 80 yards, 7:35. Key play: Brown connected with Tebiarus Gill on a 17-yard pass to begin the drive.